# I tried MMaO (make me an offer) on Cigars International



## Gdaddy (Sep 20, 2012)

Those who go on Cigar bid know that many times the price goes above it's full retail price. I had a few cigars I wanted to try but the price always eluded me. I was going to just go ahead and order them from CI when I came across the MMaO.
What the heck lets see what happens.

The list price on the cigars was $27.50. (Nicaraguan seconds) They have been going over $30 lately on C-bid.

My first bid ($20) was rejected came back "COLD". Sounded like I was way off. So I raised my price by $3. Got them for $23.

I was very happy with this price and will defiantly try this again all without the hassle of bidding against fools.


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## Gordo1473 (Dec 1, 2012)

Did this with some ghv02 and got a 10 pack for 22.00 with free shipping


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## El Bandito (Jul 19, 2010)

23 for the Nicaraguan seconds is a good price. I like to keep a mess of seconds on hand, because I find that they are great smokes. 

The Nicaraguans are great with a couple months rest. I prefer the corona to all other sizes; for some reason it's head and shoulders above the others IMO. 

Sounds like a positive MMAO experince and this is always a good thing. Awesome!


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## fiddlegrin (Feb 8, 2009)

Awesome!
I'm glad to hear that you got a deal you are happy with. :nod:

I haven't used it in some time, but now I'm reminded to hit it, so thanks! :thumb:


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## nola.bell (Dec 29, 2011)

I tried winning some Java's doing the MMaO and was striking out pretty hard


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## Myrddwn (Jun 16, 2013)

There are a couple of bundles I have my eye on in the MMAO. Sadly, I'm over budget for sticks for the next couple weeks...
Does anyone have any idea what they consider a 'good' price to be? What's a good guideline? CI seems to have some pretty steeply discounted stuff, so how low is too low?


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## Gdaddy (Sep 20, 2012)

Go low and work your way up. They'll let you know if your too low.


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## jakecartier3 (May 16, 2010)

I've never had much luck on MMAO, I'll have to go back and give it another shot.


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## Packerjh (Nov 29, 2009)

I'll have to do some digging but there used to be a formula that works almost every time...I think it was something like 15% below their online price (don't quote me on that)...I've made a few exceptional purchases on mmao and gotten turned down a bunch. Once I had figured out the percentage formula it was almost a guarantee...


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## Tobias Lutz (Feb 18, 2013)

I find MMaO to frequently mirror pricing on Cbid for the "falling" auctions. Sure, you can get some reasonable deals, but I guess what gets me is how often buyers (myself included) get caught up in the "I won" idea, like we're such great hagglers/bargain hunters. At the end of the day CI runs all the sites and doesn't let go of anything for less than they're willing to, so as the purchaser we really bring almost zero leverage to the table. That said, I've bought from all three sites so I'm certainly not putting them down. If you're happy with what you got for what you paid- right on! :dude:


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## Myrddwn (Jun 16, 2013)

I just picked up a bundle for more than 25% off their list price. Going to give their Cohiba Knock-Offs a try. Love me some Cohiba, but not in my budget. If these knock offs, which are reasonably well rated, are half as good as an actual Cohiba, I'll be happy.


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## Myrddwn (Jun 16, 2013)

And today I just grabbed a 5-pack of Torano Exodus '50 Years' Robusto for half off their list price. Came out to just over $3.00 a stick. I looked around at a few other sites before I made my offer, and even with shipping I still come in well under anyone else's best price.


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## WES213 (Jan 13, 2014)

Make an offer was a real joke for me, i found a cutter for 12 bucks and made an offer that was way off i guess.
Wish i knew make an offer wouldn't even take off a buck. LOL
I really dont know why 11 bucks would be cold on a 12 buck cutter but then again i could try an offer of one cent below there asking price.


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## 04EDGE40 (Jan 7, 2014)

I put a bid on a hygrometer that happened to be on sale for about 80% of the sale price. It came back cold. Thompson had the same hygrometer on sale so I tried the price that Thompson had on theirs. It still came back cold even though it was literally like $0.50 less than the CI sale price. Then I saw a free shipping coupon for Thompson and picked up the hygrometer there, shipped free, for slightly less than the CI price. Their loss I guess.

What I think I'm finding is that the deal is rejected or accepted based on the MSRP, not necessarily the CI price. Or maybe it's the CI price and not the sale price. Whatever way it is, you'd think there would be some kind of communication between the MMAO department and the other departments to be aware of sale prices, but there isn't.


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## 04EDGE40 (Jan 7, 2014)

I do want to add though that I picked up a 10-pack of the Humi-Care pillows for $7.00, which is 35% of the list price. So I guess that sort of debunks any ideas I had on how to find the right price.

I thought that was a good price for a pillow to keep a smaller humidor or tupperdor up to snuff, then a couple of days ago I found a smoke shop around here that had them for $1 a piece, which is better than the $7 plus shipping. Guess I'll be going there.


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## Bruck (Jan 8, 2013)

Here's a handy site for searching cigarbid auction closings - might give you some guidelines for the "lowball" bid:

Cbid Completed Auctions


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## Myrddwn (Jun 16, 2013)

I dont think this is an automated system, with a set threshold for acceptance. I've been using this for a few months now, and have gotten a few good deals; but they are very slow in responding during the weekend or late at night. Makes me think there's a person who has to click 'accept' or 'reject'. And people have moods.
I've found if you start too low and increase your offers by too small increments, they are less likely to accept at a good price. I start at about half what CI's listed price is, and then increase by $2.50 or so. They usually accept at about 60% to 75% of their list price, so I start about $5.00 to $10.00 below that and creep up.
And check their actual list price fist, don't base your bid on their 'MSRP', you will have to do a bit of digging, don't accept the MSRP they show you in the MMAO section.


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